Take a good look around, Democrats, this is likely to be as bad as it’s going to get. As Kate Pickert and I note in a story out today on time.com, the 24-hour cable net cycle has been stuck on ugly process maneuverings in the vacuum of no score from the Congressional Budget Office and no bill. This meme just adds to the back room aura …

Ohio Congressman and former presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich today announced his support for health care reform. Kucinich was one of two progressives who voted against the legislation when it passed the House in November on the grounds that it didn’t go far enough towards the single payer system they supported. The other member …

There’s a real chicken-and-egg conundrum going on up on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers are clamoring to see the final health care legislation. But their leaders can’t settle on a bill until they know it gets a favorable “score” from the Congressional Budget Office. But the Congressional Budget Office can’t issue its number until it has a bill. …

–As Karen and Jay mentioned, all signs point to Speaker Pelosi using the “self-executing rule” to deem the Senate health care bill passed without a full vote on anything but the reconciliation package of fixes. House Dems really don’t want to have an “aye” for the Senate bill’s warts on …

Nope, you won’t see a public option in the legislation that is expected to come to a vote in the House later this week. But if it passes, we may well see a public option established in some–maybe many–states.

As Kate and I have written before, if this bill becomes law, states will be on the front lines of health reform. What they do …

Those are Nancy Pelosi’s words today on why she wants to get health reform done as quickly as possible.

But even among Hill reporters, there’s some confusion over what procedurally will happen this week. Democratic leaders, including Pelosi, are keeping quiet about their precise parliamentary strategy for three reasons. One, if they …